The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum is located at 3816 Caroline Street in Houston (Photo courtesy of Misty Blue Media).

Remembering Our Past

The museums in Houston rival anything visitors will experience at the more famous museums in the “Big Apple.”

One of the most popular museums in the “Bayou City” is the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Camp Logan Mutiny, a violent clash between African-American World War I soldiers and White Houston police officers.

The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston will host a week of events commemorating the centennial anniversary of the Camp Logan Mutiny from Aug. 21-26.

According to the official press release, “To mark the anniversary of this milestone in U.S. History, the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum will unveil a new exhibit detailing the events of the Camp Logan Mutiny and featuring memorabilia from World War I and the African-American soldiers of the Third Battalion of the Twenty-fourth United States Infantry Regiment.”

The speaker series will take place on Saturday, Aug. 26 at the museum and will feature such prominent leaders and academics as Paul Bentley (author of “All Blood Runs Red”), Garna L. Christian (professor emeritus of History, University of Houston), Jerome Gray (former Houston news reporter and anchor) and many others.

According to a 2016 Houston Chronicle article, “The [Camp Logan Mutiny] started after two policemen arrested a Black soldier who got involved with the arrest of a Black woman. The soldiers were in town to protect the (Camp Logan/Memorial Park) construction site…a soldier intervened after seeing police officers ‘assaulting and arresting a Black woman, dragged partially clothed from her house.

“The police beat and arrested the soldier too. That afternoon, when a corporal from the base tried to investigate the arrest and arrange for the soldier’s release, the police beat, shot at and arrested the corporal, too.’ This led 156 armed Black soldiers to march on the city and left 20 people dead…”

The famed Buffalo Soldiers National Museum was founded nearly 20 years ago to honor the rich legacy and the patriotism of the Buffalo Soldiers, two regiments of all-Black infantry after Congress passed legislation in 1866, which allowed African-Americans to enlist in the country’s regular peacetime military, according to History.com.

The Buffalo Soldiers were founded in 1866 and lasted through World War II.

The museum can boast about being one of KTRK (ABC 13)’s “Houston’s Must-See Museums.”

According to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, “Camp Logan: 100 Years Later,” aspires to encourage dialogue, healing and insight into the infamous Camp Logan Mutiny, which took place on Aug. 23, 1917.

The Camp Logan Mutiny is rarely taught in school according to the Houston Chronicle.

Therefore, “Camp Logan: 100 Years Later” aims to fill in the blanks, which are often absent from Texas history books and national history books.